1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is a substantially non-abrasive liquid car cleaner composition which requires no external source of water to wash or rinse.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Car care products are numerous. Most car cleaners require large amounts of wash and rinse water. Those which do not require an external source of wash and rinse water contain a hard abrasive. A number of prior art auto cleaners are disclosed in Household and Automotive Chemicals Specialties, Recent Formulations, by E. W. Flick, Noyes Data Corporation, Park Ridge, N.J., 1979, pp. 293-326.
Current car cleaners/polishes utilizing mineral-based abrasives have problems associated with their use. Such abrasives are inherently comprised of relatively hard particles which abrade the painted surfaces. They are used in polishes to remove the top oxidized layer of the painted surfaces. Therefore, they should be used only occasionally. When these cleaners/polishes of the prior art are used regularly, such abrasive particles cause excessive wear to painted surfaces. The use of cleaners/polishes of the prior art which utilize such abrasives has also been known to damage the vinyl surfaces. A summary of this problem is discussed in "The Care of Automotive Vinyl Tops," a report of the Vinyl Top Study Task Force, the Chemical Specialties Manufacturers Association, published in Chemical Times & Trends, July 1978, pages 56-57. The abrasives are embedded in the texture of the vinyl, leave an unsightly residue, and mar the vinyl's appearance.
Polymeric solids have been used in cleaning compositions per se. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,108,800, issued to Helmut H. Froehlich on Aug. 22, 1978, discloses a cleaning composition wherein polyethylene glycol is added to semi-dry polymeric powdered cleaning compositions to prevent adherence of particles of the cleaning powder to the fabrics being cleaned.
The usefulness of polymeric solids in no-wash-or-rinse water auto cleaner formulations has not been recognized or appreciated in the prior art.
Furthermore, waterless car care products of the prior art such as waxes and cleaners/polishes are instructed to be applied by implements such as cloth, terry towels, or smooth foam pads, and require prior cleaning of the surfaces to remove the soils, lest the soils damage the surfaces.